Active participle

Active participle in Arabic is a group of words that describe an action or someone who performs an action. Active participles are formed according to specific patterns.

There are ten patterns for active participle in Arabic, from verbform 1 to verbform 10. However, I have never encountered any words in active participle verbform 9. In general, the higher the verb form, the more specific is the meaning of the word.

A characteristic of words that are active participles is that before the last root letter comes vokalen i.

According to Wikpedia, participles are words formed by verbs but used as adjectives. In Arabic, however, most participles can function as both nouns and adjectives.

You will notice that there are Arabic words that follow the pattern for active participle but are not active participle, ie they do not describe any action.

Active participle verbform 1

Active participle verbform 1 has the pattern faa3il. The most obvious example is the word faa3il that means doer.

Another example of a word that has the pattern active participle 1 is Haalim that means dreamer.

Active participle verbform 2 - 10

Active participle in verbform 2 to 10 all start with mu.

Active participle verbform 2

Active participle verbform 2 has the pattern mufa33il. Note that the second root letter is double.

An example of an active participle in verb form 2 is the word mudarris that means teacher.

Another example is the word mumarriD that means nurse.

Verbform 2 is often used for actions performed against someone else, for example to make someone do something or become something.

Active participle verbform 3

Active participle verbform 3 has the pattern mufaa3il. Note that there is a long vowel (aa) between the first and second root letter.

An example of an active participle in verb form 3 is the word muhaajim that means attacker, striker.

Another example is the word musaa3id that means assistant.

Verbform 3 is often used to describe an act you do against another person or involve someone in.

Active participle verbform 4

Active participle verbform 4 has the pattern muf3il.

An example of an active participle in verb form 4 is the word muDHik that means funny.

Another example is the word muz3ij that means annoying.

Verbform 4 is often causative of verb form 1, ie it is about getting someone to do something.

Active participle verbform 5

Active participle verbform 5 has the pattern mutafa33il. Note that the second root letter is double. In addition, there is a t before the first root letter.

An example of an active participle in verb form 5 is the word mutazawwij that means married.

Another example is the word mutajawwil that means itinerant, traveling.

Verbform 5 is often reflexive to verb form 2, ie it is about getting oneself to do what verbform 2 refers to.

Active participle verbform 6

Active participle verbform 6 has the pattern mutafaa3il. Note that there is a long vowel (aa) between the first and second root letter. In addition, there is a t before the first root letter.

An example of an active participle in verb form 6 is the word mutasaabiq that means competitor.

Another example is the word muta3aawin that means cooperating.

Verbform 6 is often a reflexive, mutual or stronger variant of verbform 3. It often describes an exchange between people or groups of people.

Active participle verbform 7

Active participle verbform 7 has the pattern munfa3il. Note that there is an n before the first root letter.

An example of an active participle in verb form 7 is the word munfarid that means alone, isolated.

Another example is the word munza3ij that means annoyed.

Verbform 7 is often reflexive or passive to verbform 1.

Active participle verbform 8

Active participle verbform 8 has the pattern mufta3il. Note that there is a t between the first and second root letter.

An example of an active participle in verb form 8 is the word mujtahid that means diligent.

Another example is the word mubtasim that means smiling.

Verbform 8 is often, like verbform 7, reflexive to verbform 1.

Active participle verbform 10

Active participle verbform 10 has the pattern mustaf3il. Note the letter s and the letter t before the first root letter

An example of an active participle in verb form 10 is the word mustayqiZ that means awake.

Another example is the word mustahlik that means consumer.

Verbform 10 can for example be causative or reflexive to verbform 4.

Active and passive participle

The patterns for active participle and passive participle are very similar to each other in verbforms 2 to 10. The only difference is the vowel before the last root letter which is i for active participle and a for passive participle.

For example, the word (muhaddid) means threatening. It is active participle verbform 2.

If we replace the i with an a we get (muhaddad) which means threatened. It is passive participle verbform 2.

Arabic word patterns

Arabic words follow certain patterns. The patterns make it easier to recognize, memorize and figure out the meaning of Arabic words.

Most Arabic words have a root consisting of three letters. In addition to the root letters, the words contain vowels and sometimes extra letters. The patterns show how the three root letters should be combined with vowels and sometimes extra letters to form words.

To represent the root letters of the word, the letters f, 3 and l are usually used. The letter f (fa) represents the first root letter, 3 (ayn) represents the second root letter and l (lam) represents the third root letter. Some words really have the root f,3 and l. But most words have different root letters.

Using Arabic patterns

As an example, we can look at the root k,t and b. That is, the first root letter is k (kaf), the second root letter is t (ta) and the third is b (ba).

The pattern fa3ala is a common Arabic pattern for verbs. This means that the verb is created by adding the short vowel (a) after each root letter. With the root (k,t,b), the verb becomes kataba that means to write.

The pattern maf3uul is a passive participle, that means that words with this pattern often describe the object of an action. The word is build by of the prefix (ma), the first root letter, the second root letter, the long vowel (uu) and the third root letter. With the root (k,t,b), the verb becomes maktuub that means written.

The patternmaf3al is used for words that describe places or times. You get the words by combining the prefix (ma), the first root letter, the second root letter, the short vowel (a) and the third root letter. With the root (k,t,b), the verb becomes maktab that means office.

Do I need to learn Arabic patterns?

If you think Arabic word patterns seem boring or hard to learn, then just ignore them. Most native Arabic speakers I have talked to about Arabic word patterns, have little or no knowledge of them. It is only at the university in Sweden where I read Arabic, and in textbooks by Western authors, that I have noticed interest in the Arabic word patterns.

Personally, I find the patterns very useful. I can guess the meaning of words I have never heard before, thanks to the patterns and the root letters. Above all, I think that Arabic word patterns are interesting and pleasant, actually therapeutic. When life feels chaotic and insecure, it's nice that every new Arabic word I encounter fits into the patterns I know.

More about Arabic patterns

On this website, you will find the most important Arabic patterns for forming words, and many more in addition to them. See all Arabic word patterns

This site contains thousands of words and each word has a page with detailed information about the word. Among many other things, you can see the pattern of the word. Learn more about Arabic word patterns